Centurion diesel fleet hits milestone

Continental Motors Group (CMG) reports that its Centurion diesel engine fleet has reached 4 million hours of flight time logged.

More than 4,000 new Centurion diesel engines have been delivered since start of production in 2002.

The company has also recently reported figures regarding the reliability and safety of its engines. Over the last 52 weeks, the Centurion 2.0 only had 0.61 inflight shut downs per 100,000 flight hours, according to Continental officials.

“The fuel-efficient, reliable, and environmentally friendly Centurion diesel engines became a success story in a challenging market environment. Since the start of production, more than 4,000 new engines of the models Centurion 1.7, Centurion 2.0 (both with 99 kW power), and Centurion 2.0s (with 114 kW power) have been manufactured and delivered. A fleet of well over 2,600 aircraft has been equipped with them,” said Ken Suda, Managing Director and President of Technify Motors GmbH. Technify Motors is the German operating unit of Continental Motors Group specialized in diesel propulsion systems like the Centurion.

High-frequency flyers in particular, such as flying schools, benefit from the Centurion engines, which can run on diesel, as well as jet fuel, company officials noted.

The annual utilization of each Centurion engine is over 250 hours, nearly three times higher than the overall average in general aviation, according to company officials. As a result, the users of Centurion engines will have reported over 4 million cumulated flying hours over the course of maintenance by the end of March 2014.

According to the FAA, engines used in general aviation experience an average of 10 engine failures or “in-flight shutdowns” (IFSDs) every 100,000 flight hours. The shutdown rate of Centurion engines is around 50% lower and has been reduced even further since model change from Centurion 1.7 to Centurion 2.0, according to company officials.

Taking the period since its introduction onto the market in 2003 into consideration, the shutdown rate for all Centurion engine models is 4.83 every 100,000 flight hours. Measured over the last 52 weeks, the shutdown rate of the most recent engine model, the Centurion 2.0, has been 0.61 IFSDs per 100,000 flight hours.

Centurion engines are indeed very interesting. These engines as well as being used in new construction are approved for retrofit on the Cessna 172,and 182 and the Piper Cherokee. Other STC’s likely exist with more to follow. They provide an option at TBO for owners while helping to alleviate the avgas availability problems world wide.